Effects of Early Pregnancy among Teenage Students and Their Perspective towards Life:

Develop an Awareness Program

I. Introduction
Adolescence is a time of life that lies between childhood and adulthood. The adolescent is not a
child nor a mature person. Teenagers seek to fit in with their peers as they begin to spend their time
more with their friends rather than spending it with their families. One of the issue that they may face is
teenage pregnancy which can pause students for trying to complete their academic requirements.
Teenagers who get involved with getting pregnant in an early age often have to drop out of school. This
puts a rest to their education.
The Philippines is struggling to manage its growing teen pregnancy rates. The United Nations
Population Fund (UNFPA) has found that teen pregnancies in the Philippines increased by 65% from
2000-2010. An estimated 24 babies are born to teen mothers every hour. Teenage pregnancy in the
country is highly increasing. Teenagers who get pregnant are more probably to die from child birth,
hence they are not screened well. This shows that young women have lack of information about
pregnancy.
One of the root causes of poverty is teenage pregnancy. Teen parents are often dropout from
school, and, as a result they face hardships in obtaining the skills needed to compete in society. While
teen pregnancy often causes students to drop out from school, being involved in school minimize
instances of teenage pregnancy. Teens who stay in school and are academically engaged are unlikely to
get pregnant than their peers who aren’t as involved. In other words, dropping out also rises the
chances that a teen will get pregnant. The reasons contributing to unintended pregnancy are peer
pressure, family dynamics, glamorization of pregnancy, lack of knowledge, sexual abuse, substance
abuse, and socioeconomic status. While there are many aspects that influence teenage pregnancy rates,
unprotected sex as the number one cause of teenage pregnancy is still unchangeable.
Young pregnant women will likely experience a large-scale of emotions, from being shocked,
depressed and disappointed to constantly worrying about their future. Teen parents often discover that
caring for a child makes it hard for them to continue their schooling and leads more burdensome for
teen mothers to find and keep well-paying jobs. One great challenge for a teenage mother is how to give
a bright future for the child.
Teenage pregnancy has been viewed with rising concern in recent years. Prevention of
unwanted pregnancy in teenagers has become a high priority for health care providers. Parental
involvement can reduce the risk of teenage pregnancy.
This research desired to determine the causes, effects, challenges, support system, and coping
mechanism of teenage pregnancy among mothers who were pregnant at an early age in Cebu City.

II. Theories
A lot of teenagers in today’s generation are getting into premarital sex that results to an early
pregnancy. This study is to explore and understand the attitude of mothers in their teenage years and
their perspective towards life.
According to Sister Callista Roy’s (1999) Adaptation Theory refers to “the process and outcome
whereby thinking and feeling persons as individuals or in group, use conscious awareness and choice to
create human and environmental integration.” However, there are four distinctive mode in Roy’s
adaptation theory: physiologic-physical mode (physiologic integrity that includes the basic needs and
systems making up the body), self-concept-group identity mode (psychic and spiritual integrity which
includes body image and the personal self), role function mode (social integrity), and interdependence
mode (relation integrity) which has the feeling of security in nurturing relationships.
A person is flexible who uses coping abilities to deal with stressors. In relation with the study,
the ‘person’ represents the teenage mothers. Roy refers the environment as “all conditions
circumstances, and influences surrounding and affecting the development and behavior of persons and
groups with particular consideration of mutuality of person and earth resources.” Environment may give
a summary of the challenges of the teenage mothers in facing life with early pregnancy and early
motherhood.
Moreover, Dorothea Orem’s (1959) Self-Care Theory defined as “the practice of activities that
individuals initiate and perform on their own behalf in maintaining life, health, and well-being.” In line
with the study, each should have constant connection and communication among themselves and their
environment to remain functional and maintain life. Finally, Jean Piaget’s Theory of Moral Development
(1920) indicates that youth begins to develop understanding between right and wrong at the age of 10
years or older. However, due to some factors especially in peer pressure, teenagers are still at risk for
early pregnancy issues because Piaget believed that youth at this age begin to understand that the
morality of a decision does not rest only at the outcome of that decision.

III. Conceptual Framework

The study rests that teenage pregnancy is a sociological events causing serious matters to the
concerned individuals, their families, and the society in general. Figure 1 presents the conceptual flow of
the tasks that guided the direction of the study. The study consists of four phases. Phase 1 strived to
extract the socio-economic phenomena associated with teenage pregnancies (antecedents). The
respondents were given the chance to share their personal story or experiences on the situation under
investigation. In Phase 2, the researcher noted within the personal encounters of the respondents key
presentations that relate straight to the situation under investigation. The content’s interpretations of
the phrases were secured, as well as the resulting issues and matters. Phase 3 concluded with the
coping mechanisms used by the respondents in dealing with the outcome brought by the circumstances.
In Phase 4 the researcher noted the current situation of the respondent and how they’re going with life.

Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4

Socio-economic Issues Associated with Used Coping Current situation
associated Teenage Pregnancy Mechanisms by the
respondents

IV. Objectives

1. The aim of this study is to understand the effects of early pregnancy in teenage mothers.
2. Providing alternatives to college such as vocational training and increasing opportunities to
combine work and education so that teens can more easily complete their education before
having children.
3. Expanding sexual health education programs in the community.